Machine type communications (MTC), also commonly referred to as machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, is a communication between two or more entities that does not necessarily need any direct human intervention. MTC typically involves a device (such as a sensor or meter) that captures an event or detects a condition within its local environment which is then communicated through a communications system to an application that translates the captured event or condition into meaningful information or actions. Systems that utilize MTC may be able to provide new services, improve existing processes, and the like.
Therefore, devices using MTC are expected to be a major source of traffic and revenue in future communications systems, such as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) and fifth generation (5G) communications systems. It is expected that in the year 2020, approximate device population will be on the order of about 100 times that of current 3GPP LTE communications systems, with about 1000 active devices per cell, about 10,000 total devices (active and inactive) per cell, and about 100,000 devices per square kilometer.
If transmissions from the MTC devices are not constrained, the combined traffic can overwhelm the radio interface and possibly the network infrastructure, potentially leading to congestion collapse. Hence, there is a need for a system and method for controlling transmissions (traffic) in such communications systems.